Roadtrip Resilience

WWW Let's Stick 2gether Campaign, 5/7/13 Roadtrip Resilience

Women Wonder Writers (WWW) launched their first night of Roadtrip Resilience, a speaker series bringing stories of survivorship to at-risk youth.  This effort comes less than a month after WWW presented Dave Pelzer, the author of New York Times Bestseller A Child Called It, at Stop the Pain Teen Summit on April 20.

40 youth from Riverside County and graduates of The Write of Your Life, WWW's mentoring and writing program, filled a classroom of Yeager Hall at California Baptist University last night to meet guest speaker Professor Marilyn Moore.  The young scholars enjoyed cookies and lemonade, mingled and spent the early part of the evening writing messages on sticky notes which were added to WWW's sticky-note wall.

Resilience, which means the ability to "survive" and overcome hardship, was written in white chalk on black sticky notes spread across a vibrant sea of lime green sticky notes arranged into a plus and negative equation sign on the classroom whiteboard.  The art is part of WWW's Let's Stick 2gether Art Campaign, which sends powerful messages through sticky notes.  The attendees were asked to fill the notes with hardships they wanted to overcome and ideas how to. 

WWW Vice President Kacey Sutton
WWW Student Neireda

WWW Co-Founder Debra Postil kicked off the night asking the attendees to stand up if they were affected by hardships like bullying, abusive relationships, mental health hurdles, or peer pressure.  She explained the meaning behind the plus and negative signs made of sticky notes arranged by WWW Artists Judi Randolph and Joan McCullough.  "You can turn every negative into a positive," Executive Director Postil told the audience. 

WWW Vice President Kacey Sutton introduced Neireda, a WWW graduate who blew a whistle and read her personal poems of resilience.

Professor Moore then shared her harrowing story of child abuse that she suffered at the hands of her mother.  Growing up, Dr. Moore only knew the words: pain, blood, hunger, lonely, scared and "keep the secret," she stated.  "What label has been given to you?" she asked the young scholars, before inviting them to "now remove it."  She ended her presentation with a message of resilience: "Every time you survive something, you have resilience.  That which was a problem is my motivation.  That which was a negative is now a positive," she told a captivated audience.

5/7/13 Roadtrip Resilience

Professor Moore is an Associate Professor at the School of Behavior Sciences at California Baptist University, holding a master's degree in Sociology.  She has been married for over 40 years and has two grown children and lives in Orange County.  She created the CHOICES program, which is implemented at Operation SafeHouse Transitional Living Home and is on WWW's Advisory Board.  

WWW is a writing and mentorship program for at-risk youth in Riverside County.  Roadtrip Resilience is a WWW speaker series featuring survivors who have overcome struggles throughout their life, which will be hosted every other month in 2013.  The media, past and present WWW members and those interested in learning more about WWW are invited to attend each social.  Check out WomenWonderWriters.com for upcoming events.

Thank you Professor Moore for surviving and sharing your story at Roadtrip Resilience!

Professor Marilyn Moore